1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for the treatment of clothing and similar articles, and particularly to a portable cabinet for drying and treating personal articles such as clothing, blankets, umbrellas, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dealing with wet or damp clothing, footwear, umbrellas, and various other articles is a frequent problem in most areas of the world. While many of these articles can be handled in a similar manner, others require different care. As an example, a raincoat or other outerwear may generally just be hung up on an appropriate hanger and allowed to dry without much additional care or concern, but other articles such as sweaters and the like must be handled differently in order to preclude stretching or shrinking. Moreover, applying some form of heat generally aids in the evaporation of moisture from various articles, but the heat must be regulated or moderated to prevent damage to many articles.
The conventional automatic drier used for drying laundry is unsuitable for drying many of the above articles, as such driers generally apply too much heat even on their lowest settings and the tumbling action is unsuitable for use in drying many articles such as footwear, umbrellas, etc. Moreover, while such automatic clothes driers are generally quite good at removing any traces of mold or other organisms that may have taken residence upon damp articles, they do so by means of the relatively high heat that is developed in such driers, rather than by more gentle means that is better suited to many articles.
Accordingly, a number of devices and machines for drying various articles have been developed in the past. An example of such is found in Chinese Patent Publication No. 203524153 published on Apr. 9, 2014 to Huazhong Normal University. This publication describes (according to the drawings and English abstract) a portable roll-around cabinet for drying umbrellas. The cabinet includes a matrix of horizontal compartments, with each compartment adapted for holding one folded umbrella therein. Hair driers blow heated air into the compartments.
Thus, a portable drier for personal articles solving the aforementioned problems is desired.